Kolkata/Bhubaneswar: The overall flood situation today improved slightly in Assam and West Bengal while damaged tracks and roads severely affected train services and vehicular traffic in Orissa.

Despite considerable drop in water level in all the rivers on Orissa, over 60 trains were cancelled, 40 diverted and many other short-terminated under the East Coast railway zone after the deluge in the Howrah-Chennai main line.

Similarly, traffic was hit on highways and other roads due to breaches caused by gushing water. Relief operations continued on war footing in flood ravaged districts of Balasore, Bhadrak, Mayurbhanj, Jajpur and Kendrapara as about 11.4 lakh people in over 1,000 villages were affected.

Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik took stock of the situation during a visit to the flood control room at the office of the special relief commissioner in Bhubaneswar. The state government has released Rs 25 crore to four departments to start repair and restoration activities in flood affected areas.

With no rain in the past two days, the flood scene in West Bengal 's West and East Midnapore districts showed signs of improvement even as the death toll in the state rose to 31.

Irrigation Minister Subhas Naskar said 3.66 lakh people were living in 1,467 relief camps in the two districts. The overall flood situation in Assam was also improving even as the worst-affected Lakhimpur and Dhemaji districts remained cut-off from the rest of the country for the tenth day today.

Over eight lakh people continued to reel under flood waters even as there was no rainfall in the catchment areas in neighbouring Arunachal Pradesh. The first wave of flood have so far claimed 22 lives.

Source : PTI